In early 2011, Mark Just, owner of Tower Pipes and Cigars purchased the boutique Chaveta cigars, which is produced by Pinar del Rio. While the original blend features a Brazilian Bahia maduro wrapper over Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, there were 1,000 toros produced in February of 2012 that replaced the madruo wrapper with habano one. There was also a tiny amount of Pennsylvania tobacco added to the filler.

Here is what I said in my original review back in March of 2012:

There are quite a few things to love about the Chaveta Habano. It is an extremely well made cigar with a perfect draw, burn and construction. It has an amazing, long lasting finish, one of the best I have tasted in a while. The profile is mild, but wonderful: a strong creaminess and sweetness with a few other flavors thrown in for good measure. Having said that, the profile is not the most complex in the world and changes very little for the entire length of the cigar. While I enjoyed this cigar, I am usually looking for more complexity and the size is just a bit larger than my normal smokes. I also think that just a little more body would really help the overall balance. Having said that, I will be getting more and I think if you are looking for a good morning cigar, and like the creamy profile, you are going to love this cigar and will probably buy it by the box.

  • Cigar Reviewed: Chaveta Habano Toro
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: La Fabrica Don Leoncio
  • Wrapper: Habano
  • Binder: Dominican Republic
  • Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & Pennsylvania
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 50
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $7.85 (Boxes of 20, $141.30)
  • Release Date: March 2012
  • Number of Cigars Released: 50 Boxes of 20 Cigars (1,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Redux: 1

The cigar is covered in a wonderful medium brown wrapper that is smooth to the touch and glistens with oil. It is rock hard when squeezed, and has no give at all. The aroma coming off of the wrapper is a combination of cedar, barnyard, chocolate and coffee.

The Chaveta Toro Habano starts off immediately with strong flavors of oak, leather, creamy nuts and light earth. There is a very slight sweetness that is not distinct enough to really identify that ebbs and flows in the background, and is strongest right at the halfway point. A constant amount of black pepper is noticeable on the retrohale throughout the smoke, but there is almost no spice to be found at all. The second half features the addition of a nice chocolate note, along with just a touch of citrus, but it never stays around long enough to really be more than a passing fad.

Chaveta Habano Toro

Construction-wise, both the burn and draw of the Chaveta are absolute perfection and smoke production is well above average. The overall strength does not change much throughout the duration of the smoke, and never gets stronger than a solid medium. It is easy to smoke to the nub, and I don’t put it down until have less than a half inch left.

87 Overall Score

I enjoyed the Chaveta Habano Toro almost as much as I did the first time around and for all of the same reasons: excellent construction, nice light and creamy profile and an absolutely wonderful finish. However, along with the same problem (overall lack of body) there was a fairly significant change from my original review, in that the sweetness I tasted a year ago was noticeably reduced, which did affect the profile. Still, a great example of a Habano-wrapped cigar and a decent bargain when purchased by the box.

Original Score (March 2012)
88
Redux Score (April 2013)
87
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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.